After all the inconveniences during my Saturday visit, I was determined to avoid any issues on Sunday. I didn’t bring a toothbrush. I left my Fitbit in the car (which meant losing so many precious steps), and I wore pants!
On a side note – I showed some friends the dress that caused me trouble on Saturday. One of them said, “Add another inch to that dress and you could be Amish.”
Nonetheless, I wasn’t going to argue with the San Quentin prison guards about my dress length. So I decided to wear a pair of simple Old Navy capris pants to the second visit. They are black with white polka-dots. I’ve worn them to volunteer at the student store for my kid’s middle school. Imagine Audrey Hepburn’s style circa 1962.
Well, it turns out my body type is a little more “all about that bass” than Audrey’s.
It took three guards to confirm that my curves are a security risk (thank you?), and they were seriously not going to let me go in for the visit. I was genuinely surprised and horribly embarrassed.
Often there is a visitors’ assistance group on hand to loan clothing in these situations, but they were not open that Sunday.
One guard asked me if I knew where Target was. I told him I didn’t know where anything was.
You guys know I have a terrible sense of direction.
I started to think about other clothes I had back at the hotel. Since I’d only packed for the weekend, I didn’t have a lot of extra stuff. I knew I had a pair of jeans, but denim is on the no-wear list.
“Do you have any emergency clothes in your car?” asked Target-suggestion guard.
I had to tell him I didn’t.
“It’s pretty common for visitors to keep extra clothes in the car,” he continued. “Why don’t you ask the other women if someone can loan you a skirt or something?”
Clothes Angel
So I walked back into the main waiting area and made an announcement/request to everyone in the room. A woman near the end of the line held up her hand and said, “Yeah. I think I have something. What size are you?”
“Medium? Like size six?”
She walked me out to her car and dug around in the backseat. Then she tossed me a white skirt (with a built-in slip) and told me to try it on. I put it on over my pants and we went back to the check-in building. In my opinion, a white skirt is more attention grabbing than black pants, but the extra layer of clothing got me approved for the visit.
I asked the woman how I could get the skirt back to her, and she told me to just keep it because her visit was going to end before mine.
I thanked her profusely and made a mental note to keep extra clothes in my car. Maybe one day I can pay it forward and help out another visitor with a wardrobe malfunction.
The woman who rescued me was named Angel. Seriously. How perfect is that?
Angel, if you end up reading this one day; thank you for literally “saving my butt.”
Why The Extra Concern That Weekend?
Daniel broke into laughter as soon as he spied my bizarre ensemble. He was pretty sure he knew why there was so much extra security that weekend when it came to female wardrobes.
Remember that screaming and belligerent inmate who had been dragged past Daniel’s cell early Saturday morning mentioned in my last post? Daniel had heard through the prison grapevine that inmate had been enjoying some oral gratification from his female visitor. Unfortunately for the “trying to be happy” couple, there was a mom with her young child visiting in the next cage, so the amorous activities were reported and halted immediately.
Informants?
Daniel and I conversed while eating fruit cups and “calorie free” ice cream. He was in a chipper mood.
He introduced me to an inmate in a nearby cage. The two of them talked about another inmate who is a suspected snitch.
The topic of jailhouse informants is still prevalent in Daniel’s life. Even though the Orange County informant scandal didn’t have any specific relevance for his own case, he believes a lot of important information came out during his trial that can help other inmates find justice.
Does Thou Not Protest Enough..?
Daniel regularly explains to me that he doesn’t feel like he’s missing out on having a fulfilling life. He tells me he’s content. There are so many people on this planet without even the basic necessities, whereas Daniel has food, clothing, water and shelter. On top of that there are of the bonuses of watching TV, visiting with friends, reading great books, and generally just being able to enjoy many of the things life has to offer.
Daniel never complains about what he’s lacking.
Which is good, because unlike Sam Herr and Julie Kibuishi, Daniel still has a life.
I do sometimes worry about him, though. There’s a part of me that wonders if he just puts on a happy face when I visit or when we talk on the phone. Is his real life actually much more miserable than he ever lets on?
A Dangerous Place Full of Dangerous People
Even though he introduces me to fellow inmates and acts like everybody is chummy, this place is still a maximum-security prison. The people behind those bars are dangerous, or at least they can be dangerous in certain circumstances. And Daniel is one of them.
If a man is already on death row, what does he have to lose? So, no matter how much Daniel tries to convince me that his life is hunky-dory behind bars, I’m always waiting for something bad to happen.
Often Daniel tells me about a stabbing or a shooting that took place in some other part of the prison. I can never find anything on the Internet about it, but I’m not sure what is actually considered newsworthy.
For example, on Sunday I had to sit in my new pretty white skirt and wait 15 minutes for an alarm to be turned off before I was allowed to enter. Shots had been fired somewhere on the prison grounds.
That’s all they told us. This wasn’t newsworthy.
I didn’t spend our entire five-hour visit grilling Daniel about his crimes, but I do ask a lot of questions. Throughout the past two years, I’ve been piecing together Daniel’s version of the murders of Sam Herr and Julie Kibuishi. It varies greatly from the story given in court, but Daniel’s account doesn’t make him look any better.
He never claims he’s innocent. In fact, I believe he’s been quite forthcoming with me, despite his worries that I might end our friendship because of the horrible things he’s done.
I won’t, though. Daniel is my friend, but I long ago accepted he deserves to be right where he is. I know that Daniel Wozniak would never hurt me personally; I get locked in a cell with him with no trepidation at all.
Does that mean I can guarantee Daniel is no danger to society? I can’t.
Obviously, there is a side to my friend that can be sent over the edge. His motives help me understand why he did what he did, but they will never make his choices acceptable. I reiterate this to him constantly.
What If
When we talk, I can’t help playing the “what if” game with him. I go crazy thinking about all the opportunities Daniel had to stop the course of events that led the murders of Sam and Julie. I don’t need to point any of this out to him. He’s spent seven years thinking about it.
I still have to say it to him, though. Just for me. It’s so I know he’s continuously regretful about destroying two families.
Even with all of this, Daniel still looks forward to my visits. As do I. We are friends. If there were no blog, we’d still be friends. If there were no book, we’d still be friends.
There is a book though. And I plan to answer all of the questions I’ve gotten on the blog. (Yes, I have much to say about Rachel).
Another “Sexy” Visitor
After the visit was over, I was walking back to my car and ended up in a conversation with another exiting visitor. She was a tall, thin, seventy year old woman (she told me her age), and she was not what you’d describe as curvy. But she was lamenting about how the guards had made her cover up her white blouse with her sweatshirt for her entire visit.
Her: “I wore this exact same blouse a month ago and they didn’t complain about it being see-through then.”
Me: “I think the guards were being super strict this weekend because one of the inmates was caught getting a blowjob yesterday.”
Her: “Oh that explains it. One time I was wearing big thick cable knit sweater, and the guards could still tell I wasn’t wearing a bra underneath it. I had to put on one of the loaner bras that the visitor helper group keeps in stock. The only people in there were me and a little boy getting a trade out for his camouflage T-shirt.”
Me: “They were closed this morning. I had to borrow this skirt from another visitor. I was lucky she had it in her car.”
See guys? I wasn’t the only one with clothing issues.
We headed to our cars and told each other to have a nice day.
Rear View Mirror
When you’re heading west on the 580 freeway, San Quentin is the last exit for Marin County. Driving home from my visit, I could see San Quentin reflected in my passenger side mirror as I crossed the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge. The prison got smaller and smaller and I felt such heartbreak for all the destroyed lives it represents.
Hello friend of Daniel.
I’ve been reading your blog for a while now. I live in Spain (Europe), right across the ocean from the States and here justice is very different. A murderer can get a maximum of 35 years and they don’t even get to serve their prison time in full if they have a good conduct and things like that; so Daniel in Spain would have been out and free after twenty something years.
I am against the death penalty, simply because I find it an act of revenge and not an act of justice.
First of all, I would like to congratulate you. First of all because every time I read your blog, it’s very obvious to me how careful and respecful you are in regards to this case. You keep expressing how horrible it is to you what Daniel did, and that makes me, at least, read your words from a completely different perspective. Let me explain. I could never be Daniel’s friend. As a matter of fact I could never be friends with someone who is a friend of Daniel. However, if I had no other choice, it would make me feel a bit better to know, he/she’d be someone like you.
Having said this, I would like to share my thoughts with you.
I don’t think he’s just someone who went through a bad patch in life and made the wrong decisions, like I’ve read on here a couple of times. As a matter of fact, it is well documented that the majority of murderers appear to be normal, intelligent, kind and caring people. We’ve seen it millions of times on TV when they interview murderer’s neighbors.
To kill somebody is either in you or not. I can’t even see a strain of blood on my shirt, not to mention stabbing someone and then dismembering his/her body. You need to be capable of something like that.
The reason why reading Daniel’s words does not arise any kind of sympathy for him is because I personally think he’s a by the book murderer. Intelligent. He knows what to say and how to say it so that we don’t get more upset. He knows he can’t ease the pain, he knows there’s nothing he can do for us to feel sympathy for him, but he knows what needs to be said so that we understand he knows he deserves to be where he is. Caring. In your pictures with him, he always comes across as caring, holding you tight with a smile on his face. Normal. He wants to portrait his incarceration as a normal and even confortable-to-some-extend situation.
I don’t want Daniel to be killed, but I think it’s gonna take much more than the current 8 years he’s been serving in death row for me to really see someone REAL and TRUE coming through. He needs much more than all the things he says he’s doing (meditation/studies etc) to become a better person. By his words and actions, it looks as though there’s still a lot of the Daniel he was nowadays. He needs to talk about what happened, what really happened. He needs to talk about the victims. He needs to break down before he can cure. Reading Daniel’s words feels like he’s just having some kind of holidays in prison. It feels like he’s accepted his fate and hey! it ain’t that bad after all. Of course it’s bad. Of course he can’t be content. Of course he’d wish he was out. SO SAY IT, Daniel. You won’t heal until you come to terms with the fact that none of this is ok. What you did was terrible to such an extent that I can’t hardly put down into words and you won’t be able to make up for that… ever… but you still have the opportunity to heal. Don’t pretend you’re helping others. You can’t mend someone else’s house when ours is simply ruined. Think about it.
I love your comment Tony!! You put into words things I needed to say to him………………Thank you! Mari
2020 here and I’m just now replying…. Nice comment, perfect, to the point and kind. I really doubt he is capable to sharing his deeper thoughts and i.e. the truth. I also do not think he can be friends with anyone. He accepts others friendship for him but he is not able to return it. My guess is that is somewhat like an autistic person, functional one. They copy others actions and words that they don’t have/feel on their own. Trauma leaves one traumatized and I do believe he has to have PTSD, of his own making, maybe, but he has to have it. I have it and the only way I can describe it is I am dead inside, I have no feelings, no real feelings. I got this way after a very abusive marriage. I enjoy this blog and reading the comments.
Great job on your blog. Daniel sounds like a very strange man. I know you enjoy talking with him and making his day. Do others visit him as well? The guards sounds like they are expressing their view of just what clothing is Allowable. Great job !
I think Daniel Wozniak is a cold blooded killer. I do read your blog and enjoy it. However I do not feel an ounce of sympathy for Daniel. On the surface he seems like a nice, jovial, amiable, guy. A talented actor and quite handsome. However this is purely superficial. Like Ted Bundy was a master at disguise and manipulation, so is Wozniak. As FBI profiler John Douglas has said, many times…do not be fooled by these guys, to understand the artist you have to look at the artwork. Daniel Wozniak concocted a well thought out and planned scheme to murder two of his close trusted friends simply because he needed money for his wedding. He is a cold hearted killer with no remorse, capable of shooting then mutilating the dead body of his friend. He has not admitted his crime, nor has he asked for forgiveness. You think you are his friend? ……..so did Sam and Julie.
Great letter. I agree.
I also think there was jealousy involved. Sam was everything DW was not. They were the same age, but Sam had a future planned, debt-free, was in school, money in the bank, responsible, let alone fit, handsome with a lot of friends.
Dan, on the other hand, was a fat slob, no visible means of support, no viable means of support, in debt, about to get married to someone who expected to go on a honeymoon, which he no doubt planned or, at the very least, agreed to, but had no way of supporting. He is/ was a coward, a double murderer, who decapitated and murdered one person and killed another, two innocent “friends,” and deserves no sympathy or compassion.
If he doesn’t deserve the death penalty, I don’t know who does.
Just a disgusting, pathological, despicable poor excuse of a man.
I agree.
Agree. As I was reading your description of both the guys, I had this thought of how in the world did Daniel and Rachal think they were going to pay for a cruise… before they thought of killing their friends. Oh, yes, she is just as guilty. Its laughable, they had no money and their make believe world had them planning a cruise. There are so many instances within this tragedy that describes the thinking of those two. I really don’t they they, both of them, are all there.
Family Guy, Men in Black=Noah Noah Noah.
Rachel’s eye roll after stating that one is “cruising on the GI Bill” is highly indicative. NBC, Dateline, Josh, and the assistants know what happened.
Hannah, Abraham, et al. know the truth but refuse to believe. The comments around Cottonwood confirm.
Did anyone see the youtube.com video with Noah and Rachel singing Christmas carols while Shane Matthew Cianciolo (certified nut, especially based on his one-hour long, self-produced documentary on youtube) sawed off the trunk of a Christmas tree and laughed into the camera?
Of course, they (Noah and Shane) deleted the video.
Medina should stop his pre-trial (10/6) nonsense and take it to trial (he will never recover the billable hours). David, work on the appellate brief.
Who are all these names you’re referencing?
Sarah, do you have a copy of the video? Is Shane related to Fred? ““I have known Rachel all her life and she has been one who was always honest and trustworthy and maybe her biggest fault was being a little too naive and always too trusting in other people,” said Fred Cianciolo, an area resident and friend of the Buffett family.” http://www.opinionjockey.com/rachel-mae-buffett-gets-two-years-and-eight-months-being-accessory-murder
How is the alibi story of watching TV and a movie equal to Noah?